Video Documentaries

Art experts attempt to recreate Caravaggio's 17th century masterpiece The Adoration, which was stolen from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo, Italy, on 18 October 1969.     Mystery of the Lost Paintings ep. 7 - Mystery of the Lost Caravaggio The Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence (also known as The Adoration) is a painting believed to have been created in 1609 by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio. Recent discoveries link the painting to that commissioned by Fabio Nuti in April 1600, and thus sent from Rome to Palermo. It was stolen on October 18, 1969 from the Oratorio di San Lorenzo in Palermo, Sicily. The painting, which hung above the altar, was large, measuring almost six square metres (actual size 268 cm x 197 cm). Probably because of its size, it was removed from its frame by the thief or thieves (two suspected) before being taken out of the church. After it was stolen, the Oratory was pillaged of other art, along with choir stalls of carved and gilded wood

A team of art experts attempt to recreate Medicine, a painting by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, which was destroyed in 1945 by the retreating German army.     Mystery of the Lost Paintings ep. 6 - Mystery of the Lost Klimt Medicine was the second of University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings, presented in March 1901 at the tenth Secession Exhibition. It featured a column of nude figures on the right hand side of the painting, representing the river of life. Beside it was a young nude female who floated in space, with a newborn infant at her feet, representing life. A skeleton represented death in the river of life. The only link between the floating woman and the river of bodies is two arms, the woman's and a man's as seen from behind. Figure of Hygeia, the mythological daughter of the god of medicine is shown at the bottom of the painting. Hygieia stood with the Aesculapian snake around her arm and the cup of Lethe in her hand, turning her back to mankind. Klimt conveyed an ambi

This documentary series tells the stories of a host of historic paintings that have been tragically lost, stolen or destroyed over the decades and centuries. This series kicks off with Graham Sutherland's controversial portrait of Winston Churchill.   Mystery of the Lost Paintings ep. 1 - Sutherland's Portrait of Winston Churchill In 1954 the English artist Graham Sutherland was commissioned to paint a full-length portrait of Sir Winston Churchill. The 1,000 guinea fee for the painting was funded by donations from members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. The painting was presented to Churchill by both Houses of Parliament at a public ceremony in Westminster Hall on his 80th birthday on 30 November 1954. Churchill hated the portrait. After the public presentation, the painting was taken to his country home at Chartwell but was not put on display. After the death of Lady Churchill in 1977, it became clear that she had the painting destroyed some months after it was del

In The Victorians, Jeremy Paxman takes his love of Victorian paintings as the starting point for a journey into Victorian Britain. Such pictures may not be fashionable today, but they are a goldmine of information about the most dynamic age in British history. The Victorians Part 1: Painting The Town He investigates the most dramatic event of Victorian Britain: the explosion of great cities. At first the Victorians feared these new monsters in their midst, but then grew to love and transform them. Jeremy explores the canals and sewers, suburbs and back streets, workhouses and magnificent buildings of the great Victorian city, while also experiencing the fun-filled chaos of Derby Day. The Victorians Part 2: Home Sweet Home Jeremy Paxman enters the typical Victorian home, a haven of order, respectability and morality. But not everything was always as it should be, with sexual double standards and the perils of drink, disease and poverty all threatening to destroy the cherished dream of H

Constable There have been few more powerful painters of landscape than John Constable. He brought a scale, ambition and impact to a subject long considered amongst the lowest forms of art. Constable is often celebrated as a nostalgic painter of a lost England but look a little harder, though, and you discover an intense and radical vision at work which changed the course of British art. As well as looking Constable’s most famous works, such as The Haywain and Flatford Mill, Tim Marlow explores lesser known works such as the expressive sketch for The Leaping Horse Great Artists This major 26-part series takes a fresh look at the most important artworks of some of the greatest artists in history. Shot on location in over fifty museums, churches and palaces throughout Europe and the United States, this series is a comprehensive survey of the history of Western art. Both intelligent and informative, it's the perfect introduction to the art of the Old Masters. This set contains all 26 e

In Civilisations episode 3, Simon Schama explores one of our deepest artistic urges - the depiction of nature. Simon discovers that landscape painting is seldom a straightforward description of observed nature - rather it is a projection of dreams and idylls, as well as of escapes and refuges from human turmoil, the elusive paradise on earth. Simon begins in the 10th century, in Song dynasty China. The Song's scrolls are never innocent of the values of that world - the landscapes depict immense mountains projecting imperial authority. But as that authority was threatened and overwhelmed, majestic mountains are represented in geological turmoil, writhing and heaving. Imagined paradises in Islamic and Western art are often responses to loss and absence. But paradise could be recovered in the country villas of the Renaissance. Simon goes to the miraculously beautiful Palladian house of Daniele Barbaro in the Veneto, with murals painted by Paolo Veronese to contemplate the world of the

The spectacular sculptures and paintings of Michelangelo seem so familiar to us, but what do we really know about this Renaissance genius, and who was this ambitious and passionate man? A virtuoso craftsman, Michelangelo's artistry is evident in everything that he touched. Spanning his 89 years, this episode takes a cinematic journey from the print and drawing rooms of Europe through the great chapels and museums of Florence, Rome and the Vatican to explore the tempestuous life of Michelangelo. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Or more commonly known by his first name Michelangelo (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564) was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet of the High Renaissance born in the Republic of Florence, who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Considered the greatest living artist during his lifetime, he has since been described as one of the greatest artists of all time. Despite making few forays beyond the arts, his art

As an island nation the sea has exerted a powerful influence on some of Britain's best known artists. Writer and poet Owen Sheers explores British art and literature inspired by the high seas - Art of the sea. Art of the sea - In Pictures It has led to some of the finest British paintings from the likes of Constable and Turner and continues to be fertile territory for prominent artists today. Poet and author Owen Sheers examines our changing relationship to the sea over the last four centuries and how this is reflected in the work of artists who have tried to capture its ever-changing essence in the stillness of a canvas, sculpture or photograph. Art of the sea - In Words Novelist Joseph Conrad described the sea as another planet. Majestic, dramatic and sometimes terrifying, the sea has held a real fascination for British writers. From Shakespeare to Coleridge, Robert Louis Stevenson to Patrick O'Brian, it has inspired some of our most gifted authors.  Poet and novelist Owen Sh